Texas Survives Own Defense, Outlasts Baylor In Shootout, 56-50

For a
limited time only, or hopefully for no more than the rest of this season, the
worst defense in the history of Texas football will be on display at DKR-Texas
Memorial Stadium. There will be just two
more viewings at home following Saturday’s 56-50 win against Baylor.

The
product was essentially basketball-on-grass.
Texas’ defense was torched for 607 yards as Baylor scored on all seven
trips inside the Red Zone. It was the
most points Texas has ever allowed in a win, and it came darn close to becoming
the most points Texas ever scored in a loss.
(The 45 points scored in the West Virginia loss still bears that dubious
distinction)

“We’re
not going to look at stats anymore,” coach Mack Brown said after his team
snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 5-2. “The only stat we’re going to look at is
wins.”

It may
be a wise move considering this defense isn’t going to get any better any time
soon and given how far the Longhorn program has fallen. Brown notched just his third Big 12 home win
since 2010 and is 8-and-13 in league play since Colt McCoy hung up his cleats.

The
defensive dysfunction is such that Texas will have try to outscore everyone left
on its slate and play as error-free as its offense didSaturday.

Sure, a
mis-snap on what was supposed to be a fake punt led to Baylor’s first touchdownafter
it took over on downs at the Longhorn eight.
Running back Joe Bergeron nearly coughed it up twice but, otherwise, ran with
power and patience to the tune of 117 yards and a career-best five rushing
touchdowns (just one score shy of Ricky Williams’ school record). Freshman running back Jonathan Gray tallied his first
touchdown run with a 25-yard scamper that regained the Longhorn lead, 35-28, with
little more than one minute remaining in the first half. Quarterback David Ash shook off a left wrist injury to
finish 19-of-31 for 274 for no interceptions.

It’s
hard to know where to begin with this defense and, frankly, there isn’t much
left to be said. By now, it’s
deficiencies are well-documented. We can
talk about youth and injuries all day, but you can start with the fact that there
are too many guys on this unit who are playing out of position. Safety Mykkele Thompson and linebacker DeMarco
Cobbs are offensive players still trying to learn their position. The safeties play 15-to-20 yards off the
line, and that leaves open chunks of real estate in the middle of the
field. Players continue to run to the
wrong gaps. We have yet to see an
across-the-board effort from all 11 in any one game this season.

It took
the OU debacle before coaches instilled some down-to-the-ground tackling this
week, but the bigger picture is this:
Brown is once again trying to infuse at midstream some toughness and
physicality into a program where it has typically been missing. Unless there is
a team leader or coordinator who can create that blue collar culture, it has
typically been missing from this program during Brown’s tenure.

To be
fair, Texas loses to Baylor for the third straight year if the defense did not
come away with two critical turnovers.
Josh Turner’s interception late in the second quarter set up Gray’s touchdown run. which
gave Texas the lead for good. Thompson’s
fumble recovery just before the end of the third quarter set up Ash’s only touchdown of the night. It was a 15-yard toss to
receiver Mike Davis who, despite a couple of drops, finished with 148 yards on six
grabs.

But the
fact that Texas still had to recover an onside kick with 56 points on the
scoreboard reveals what kind of night it was for the defense. In short: it was typical.